Vauxhall Corsa E Screenwash Bottle Replacement
It's not often that you need to remove or replace a screenwash bottle, however they do sometimes get damaged or develop leaks.
The first stages of this process can also be used in order to gain access to the screen wash motor/pump (Vauxhall part number 13349273) and the horn (Vauxhall part number 13489938) if either of those is in need of replacement.
This documentation provides details on how to access, remove and replace the screenwash reservoir (Vauxhall part number 13432705) on a Vauxhall/Opel Corsa (Mk 4) E, and should apply to model years 2014-2019.
Assessing the job
Although the bottle is the same between models, how it's attached to the car apparently varies and will determine whether it's necessary to remove the bumper or not.
It's relatively simple to check by moving the wheel arch liner - the liner will need disturbing either way as one of the fixings lives behind it.
Turn the left hand (UK passenger) side drivers wheel inward (i.e. steer hard right), or, for easier access, jack the car up, place on stands and remove the left wheel.
Within the arch there are a number of Torx screws, as well as some plastic rivets.
There are two at the bottom of the arch
A third about half way up the front, it faces down rather than out
There is also a well hidden screw part way up the arch, run your finger around the rim of the arch, and you should feel it towards the front (just above the line where the bumper meets the wing)
Knock the plastic rivet pins through.
You should now be able to peel the liner towards the wheel so that you can see the bottom of the screenwash bottle, and it's fixings.
The front of the liner connects to the rear via tabs, so it might be tempting to pull it off to stop it annoying you, but before you do this, be aware that you'll likely need to remove the wheel to refit it.
If you're lucky, then the reservoir will be bolted onto a stud (if so, you can skip onto the next section), but it you're unlucky (like me) then the screenwash bottle is attached to the car with rivets
You'll need to drill those out, which realistically means that the bumper will need to be removed in order to give sufficient access.
You'll need to ensure that you have a rivet gun and some big rivets (I needed a 6.8mm shank, so you need a sturdy rivet gun too) for refitting - you can't trivially replace with a bolt or a stud due to lack of access to the other side (I was very tempted to weld a small stud on though).
Remove the Corsa's bumper. You can get away with only unhooking the side you're working on and pulling the bumper forward, but this increases the risk of damaging it (if it gets tripped over/stood on etc).
Removal Process
Now that you've gained access to the bottle's mounts, the process is quite straightforward.
If you hold the pump and pull it upwards whilst wiggling slightly, it should come out of the bottle quite easily
If you're lucky enough to be following this process in order to change your screenwasher pump, then you can now unclip the pump, put the new one in and put things back together.
The filler neck clips into the top of the bottle, you should be able to grasp it and pull it out
The bottle itself is held in by 2 fixings with a tab at the front
Remove the fixings - if they're rivets then unfortunately that means drilling out - try and avoid using hammer+chisel or a grinder as you don't want to damage the frame behind.
With the fixings removed, pull the bottle back towards the wheel a little to slide the tab out of it's lug.
It makes removal and refitting a little easier if you unbolt the horn so you've got room to manouevre - undo the single nut and slide the horn down off it's stud.
The bottle should now come down and out.
Bottle Installation process
The new bottle should then slide up into it's place (remember to position the tab).
You'll need to fix it in place, either by using new rivets or bolting onto the stud.
Put the pump back into the bottle - it slides straight in from the top, but this is much easier if you unclip the connector and hoses first - there are little plastic clips on the hose connectors that slide down (be careful you don't lose them as they can ping off)
Reconnect the pump to it's cable and hoses (remember to slide the hose clips back on firmly)
Slide the filler neck back in
Pour a little water into the bottle and operate the washers - you're looking to make sure that everything works (i.e. you haven't disturbed the pump too much)
Refit the horn if you removed it
If all is well, refit the bumper and fix the arch liner back into place.
Put the wheel back on (if you removed it), and your done!
Conclusion
Removing the screenwash bottle on a Corsa is pretty straightforward. However, the refitting/installation process often requires some heavy duty rivets, and by extension, a decent rivet gun, which not everyone owns.
The longest part of the process, really, is drilling the rivets out - the rest of the process easily takes less than an hour.
